The Nigeria Police Force has arrested several policemen attached to the Zone 16 Command in Yenagoa, Bayelsa for their alleged involvement in a N3 million extortion case.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, disclosed this in a statement posted on his official X (formerly Twitter) account.
Adejobi stated that the policemen in question had been apprehended following an internal investigation and would be transferred to the Force Headquarters (FHQ) in Abuja.
“The policemen involved in this case of extortion of ₦3 million have been arrested. The men are attached to Zone 16 Command in Yenagoa. The command has been asked to produce the men at the FHQ,” Adejobi wrote.
He further emphasized the commitment of the Force Headquarters to cleansing the police system and ensuring justice is served in all cases brought to its attention.
A Nigerian man, Kelechi Isaac, had released a video on social media in which he accused police operatives in Bayelsa State of extorting N3 million from him at gunpoint.
Isaac who hails from Nguru Nworie, a community in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state, but is based in Ghana, said he had returned to Nigeria to attend a friend’s traditional marriage ceremony in Bayelsa State when the incident happened. Isaac said he was driving back from the marriage ceremony with two of his friends when five police operatives flagged down their vehicle.
According to him, the operatives identified themselves as the “IGP’s Special Squad” and that their white pickup truck was not branded.
The operatives’ uniform did not have name tags, he said
The victim said the operatives searched their vehicle and subsequently forced him to unlock his phone. He said the armed operatives, on seeing a N10 million bank alert in his phone, allegedly began to beat him and threatened to shoot him unless he transferred N6 million to them.
“They handcuffed me and drove us away and continued beating me. Before we knew it, they started shooting guns and threatened to kill the three of us. I asked them to take me to a police station but they refused.
“They said that if I didn’t give them N6 million from the N10 million, they would kill all of us. When the beating became too much, I started negotiating with them, and at the end of the day, I transferred N3 million to them in two bank accounts they provided and drove with us and stopped us at Ahoada in Rivers State and drove off,” he narrated
Isaac said the operatives gave him two different bank accounts where he transferred N2 million and N1 millon separately. He alleged that N2 million was transferred to the Monie Point Microfinance Bank account number belonging to Yusuf Mustafa, while the N1 million was transferred to another Monie Point Microfinance Bank account number belonging to Jerry Ventures.
He appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun (IGP), to intervene and compel the operatives to return the money.
“All I need is my money to be returned to me and for the IGP to fish out the policemen giving the Nigeria Police Force a bad image. I believe with these account details, they can be fished out.
“I want Justice. I want my money returned because it is for my brother’s project. Let the policemen who did this to me be identified so that other Nigerians won’t become their victims,” Mr Isaac stated. I don’t do any illicit business. I am a law-abiding citizen of this country.”
